


Wicked Games

by orphan_account



Category: Knives Out (2019)
Genre: Alternate Character Interpretation, Anxiety Attacks, Attempted Murder, But Actually You Don't, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Development, Character Study, Classism, Dark, Death Threats, Deception, Depression, Dom/sub Undertones, Domestic Fluff, During Canon, Dysfunctional Family, Emotionally Repressed, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemy Lovers, Evil Plans, F/M, Financial Domination, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Enemies, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Hate Sex, Hate to Love, Hispanic Character, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, I Put So Many Tags Here That You Already Know What's Gonna Happen, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I'm Going to Hell, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Inheritance, Love/Hate, Manipulation, Marta Cabrera Needs A Break, Mental Health Issues, Mind Games, Missing Scenes, Murder Mystery, Obsession, Panic Attacks, Personal Growth, Plot Twists, Porn With Plot, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Power Dynamics, Pre-Canon, Prequel, Prison, Punishment, Racism, Ransom Drysdale Being an Asshole, Redemption, Rough Sex, Scheming, Second Chances, Sequel, Sexual Tension, Smut, Sociopath with a Crush, Spoilers, Twisted, What Have I Done, bad decision sex, possesive sex, unlikely friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:34:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23451793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After Harlan's death, Marta was so desperate that she chose to accept Ransom's offer to help her.  But that wasn't the first time she decided to trust him. And wouldn't be the last either.Or...Where Ransom finds himself playing a real-life game of Go against his grandfather's nurse, which Marta seems to have won. But he knows that's not the final round.[Alternative title: The Tales of a Cursed Legacy.]
Relationships: Marta Cabrera & Ransom Drysdale, Marta Cabrera/Ransom Drysdale
Comments: 8
Kudos: 54





	1. Prelude: power, darkness and void.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marta reflects about how she was lead to be part of the Thrombeys. Or at least, that's what they tried to make her believe. She always knew that despite of Harlan, she couldn't trust any of them.  
> Except for maybe, the black sheep of the family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't want to make this very long. So I will be as quick as I can:  
> 1\. First, thank you for giving this fic a chance! I appreciate it so much!  
> 2\. I LOVED Knives Out. And especially this pair of mostly partners in crime. They've been stuck in my mind since I saw the movie at the beginning of December, so, after 5 months and a lot of planning in the plot and doubts about posting it: here it is! I tried to make something good, so I hope it is.  
> 3\. There's gonna be a lot of smut and dark stuff, becuase well, he's a murderer lmao. And I'm like a sucker for toxic relationships it seems???  
> 4\. Also, I want to make clear that I'm not trying to romanticize murder, abuse or stuff like that. Okey? Those things aren't that good in real-life. We all like bad guys, but not THAT bad.  
> 5\. I'm so sorry if my writting is not very good (I'm working on improve it), but english it's not my first language, so I'm trying my best. Feel free of correct my speeling if is wrong. I would be very thankful.  
> 6\. As Marta is obviusly a latina, there's gonna be some words in Spanish (which is my first language lmao), but don't worry, they will not be many and always come with the translation.  
> 7\. This parts works more like a Prelude/Introduction/Prologue than a real Chapter 1. But it's very important to settle how Marta sees Ransom, which will potentially influence in how the plot develops.
> 
> And that's all! Enjoy the reading! xo

Secrets are double-edged weapons. Sometimes hiding the truth is worse than bringing it to light. And even more painful. It poisons, little by little, drop by drop, both those who affect and those who safeguard it. It consumes without letting you breathe until you release the words that have been hidden for a long time and struggle to be heard again. Because the truth always finds a way to be heard; an exit from darkness, from ignorance. No matter how many screams or whispers appear in the way to plug it. It even finds his way out not through the lips, but the eyes. Sometimes, just one look is enough to tell a thousand of different truths. And because they are secrets, they cause darkness in the soul that is reflected even in the eyes of the strongest. Because it is not about good or evil, justice or destiny: but in how the truth, in the end, it is power. And the stronger you hold to it, the more it will poison you. Until you get completely corrupted.

Marta Cabrera had experienced all that very well. She had seen the secrets shatter families so deeply, that they ended up fighting between each other over the broken fragments of what had once been a common legacy. Bringing out their true faces: selfish beings of animal habits, who became vultures to the still-hot flesh of a corpse with the cracks of a treasure they did not deserve at all.

However, that is what leads to power; It reveals all the evil of people. For those who have grown up with it since birth, it is too difficult, almost impossible, to discern some light in their eyes, where there is only a deep emptiness. In most cases, it is usually just that, a harmless emptiness that only affects those who have it, a dissatisfaction that causes one to never have enough with what he has, no matter what or how far you get.

On the other hand, there are other cases, much more specific, as rare and difficult to find as harmful, where the void is replaced by complete darkness. A blackness that floods the gaze without letting any glimmer of light pass through it. These looks are disturbing to see, they make all the alarm senses react just to feel them and disturb quietness thunderously. This darkness appears when power has finally managed to pervert and subdue the human soul, away from all accepted morals. Discovering a cruel and heartbreaking truth that cuts your breath and hurts your heart until it bleeds.

But everyone shares something in common, somehow or another, all have been damaged by power. Because it is tempted by nature, and not the strongest or bravest can resist. It tricks like mermaids and enchants like love, losing all senses and any reason. After all, power is the force that moves the world.

Marta knew all of that, having lived so long surrounded by a family corrupted by power, of which luckily she was not part of. During all those years, despite all the arguments and fights that she observed in the Thrombey's family reunions that ranged from the game that would be played to political issues, she always knew how to bear it well. She simply stood in a corner, silently watching from a distance, preventing her presence from being noticed so they won’t try to involve her in their conflicts. She rather stay on the sidelines, always keeping an eye on Harlan in case something happened to him. Sometimes, she found herself not only talking to Fran but also becoming friends with the youngest girl in the family: Meg Thrombey.

Even so, on some other occasion, when their fights became stronger than normal, especially between Richard and Walt, taking advantage of the patriarch's absence (who would have decided to retire to his study or sleep), they resorted to Marta in search of a support for their cause. Which Meg liked to refer to as 'The T-Bomb.' Marta knew that they didn't come to her because they valued her opinion (in that house, the only one who did was Harlan) but because she served them as a guinea pig. ''Marta is a working woman, but she came here the right way. It is not intended to take the job of any American. She knows the limits and knows not to cross them.'' They used to say about her, especially Linda.

However, despite the apparent intention to defend or flatter her, it was just the opposite. But rather to degrade her, emphasizing her position as a worker and theirs as the bosses. You follow rules, we do them. Not to mention, the seriously racist factor that was included. Which would have affected her if she hadn't grown up with it, the feeling of being sheltered in someone else's house that didn't belong to her in a job that she didn't deserve had disappeared a long time ago. Especially when her relationship with Harlan narrowed. The insecurities and fears were still there, and along with the helplessness of not having enough resources to legalize the presence of her mother in the country, they occasionally attacked her between nightmares at night.

Therefore, she hid her discomfort from the comments of the Thrombey family. She was only dedicated to observing from a distance safely or if they decided to include her, nod and smile silently without commenting. She knew that Harlan never agreed with it, claiming that she didn't have to be ashamed of who she was. Even so, Marta always chose to avoid intervening in conflicts that she knew would bring her problems.

In this way, she always tried to maintain a more formal and professional relationship with the rest of the Harlan family, interacting as little as possible. Despite the patriarch's numerous interests to include her as part of the family. And she would have stopped resisting it at some point, if she didn't know she couldn't trust any of them. In one way or another, she had known all the secrets of each one of them thanks to the friendship she had with the oldest of all. So she couldn't trust them, not really, not even Meg. And as much as she liked to feel like she belonged to it all... she couldn't risk that somehow they discovered her secrets, putting her family at risk. After all, lying was impossible for her.

The only exception to that rule, perhaps, was who seemed the pure reflection of who was her best friend: Hugh Ransom Drysdale.

Ransom was in every way the black sheep of the family. And in fact, he seemed to be completely comfortable with it. Unlike the rest, who were always arguing among themselves or competing for their great eagerness for superiority, since it was only this that mattered to them: power. Ransom, by contrast, simply didn't care at all. He was the 'idgaf' type of guy. While the Thrombeys used their influence to manipulate anyone around them, dedicating fake smiles and lies behind flattery until they managed to get you into the trap. And when it was most convenient, they would stab you in the back. Meanwhile, Ransom was completely the opposite, he didn't lie, he would told you what he thought without thinking it twice, not caring if it would hurt you. And ironically, that was part of his charm, which she knew had brought down every woman he had come across ever.

And Marta was not the exception.

That first impression he made, so different from the rest of his family, was what intrigued her since she met him. And even if she wasn't going to admit it, despite how cruel and callous he could be, she admired his brutal and heartbreaking honesty. He looked so much like Harlan in that.

Actuallly, Harlan and Ransom were alike in many ways, the way they behaved and spoke proved it. He even had inherited his grandfather's blue eyes. However, they did not have the same look. Harlan's always reflected fatigue, nostalgia and genuine kindness (unlike all his descendants), denoting the weight of the years in his way of seeing the world, she always felt comforted when she saw him.

On the other hand, his grandson's one was completely different. Marta had grown accustomed to the gaze that was empty of purpose or thirsty for power from the rest of the family. But in his eyes there was none of that. There was _nothing at all_. The eyes are the doors of the soul they said, and she always could read someone's gaze as soon as she met her, it was a kind of instinct that told her who to trust. It didn't seem to work with him. Try as she might, she couldn't figure out what his blue-eyed gaze was telling to her.

And it was that curiosity that gave rise to an irreparable interest in him. She simply couldn't stop staring at him until she discovered what his eyes were hiding.

Right or wrong? Power or truth? Ambition or void? Light or darkness? She just couldn't tell. They seemed to reflect everything and at the same time nothing. Almost as if there was a constant conflict going on within himself.

That's what made her believe there was still good in him.

Of course, she didn't know that would be the reason of her downfall.


	2. Chapter 1: First Round.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Marta is caught in the middle of a rematch between Harlan and Ransom, a competition between her and Ransom begins to see who is the best Go player. Which, without either expecting it, will end up developing a peculiar relationship between the two... becoming more than just a game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyy! I'm back again! I'm so sorry for being off so much time, but I took me some type to find time during this quarantine to be able to write. Homeschool sucks. Anyway, here I'm again and I hope I can be more active from now on. ^.^  
> Now, some reminders I want to make clear.  
> 1\. This whole plot will not affect the canon and event that happen during the movie, Knives Out, at all. That's why it starts with "x months after Harlan's death" because it's gonna indeed happen just like in the movie. You can take these few chapters as a foreshadow to understand Marta and Ransom's relationship and dynamics.  
> 2\. As I said earlier in the prelude's notes and at the tags, it ould be a slow burn. But in this 'act 1' as to where gonna call it, before Harlan's death, it's not gonna be slow at all lmao. But when we are over the movie's events, it would certainly be VERY slow. Just to warn you.  
> 3\. The whole game is very important, and it would take a main role in the future.  
> 4\. There's a lot of character study and divagations because it's impossible for me to not get a little bit philosophical. But this easter eggs and analysis would be really important to know who they are.  
> 5\. But don't worry, it'll be a lot of smut, action and drama too! Including a new murder mystery, just to warn you.
> 
> And that's all! Enjoy the reading! xo

_January 5th, 11 months before Harlan’s death._

Harlan had a wicked view of the world that Marta never shared. He liked to tell her that when someone looked very nice, as a good person, someone calm... he would have a dark side to him. He never referred to a specific person, and if he did, it was about some character in the novel he was planning at the time. She didn't want to believe him at first, of course, but it wasn't long before she realized he was right. Because that was the perfect way to describe his family.

Marta, in her first weeks working for Harlan, as she gradually entered the family, she felt somehow intimidated by the greatness of the house and the air of wealth that seemed to give off all the members of the clan. You could even consider that the way they treated her was kind enough, almost special. However, in the first family gatherings that she had the opportunity to observe in the distance, she soon discovered the frivolity and narcissism that surrounded them. Which made her change her opinion almost instantly. And it was not long when her hours in the Thrombey mansion increased and her relationship with Harlan stopped being only professional to become not only her boss but also her best friend, that made her discover from the patriarch's hand all the dirty secrets of the family. Proving once again that they were far from being good people at all.

"I suppose that's what happens when you're born rich, white and privileged," Marta thought.

So even though she never admitted it out loud, he was right, the Thrombeys pretended to be good people to her only to turn out to be scavenging vultures. Not even Harlan was too nice to her at first, he behaved like a curmudgeonly old man, but she would soon discover that that was just a mask he had built over the years to hide his true goodness.

Her grandson also inherited that attitude. Ransom never tried to look nice in front of her. She didn't think he even noticed her, not at first at least. On the contrary, he maintained an almost impressive attitude of passive disrespect. He didn't care about anything or anyone, but he didn't seem to try too hard to prove it either. She had seen him argue with the rest of his family from time to time, especially with his father about something related to money or with Walt for how he criticized his lifestyle. However, most of the time he didn't get into any family fight, instead, he settled into his seat with a glass of whiskey while watching with amused eyes, almost as if he enjoyed the show. Or how it happened most of the time, he sneaked into Harlan's office where he would simply spend the rest of the time with him.

For Marta, the fact that he never pretended to be simple and humble like the rest of his family, made her wonder if Harlan's theory really could be applied to him or not. His mysterious air and knowing absolutely nothing about him (except for the brief criticisms he heard through rumors from the Thrombeys) did not help much. She wanted to believe that knowing the family he grew up with, he had to be like the rest of them.

However, Harlan also used to say, that Ransom was just like him.

"Dammit!" Harlan growled from his office, and after releasing that curse there was the low sound of something falling to the ground.

Marta, who until then had been accommodated in one of the armchairs in the living room with a blanket while reading one of the old books that occupied the enormous shelves of the place, automatically became alarmed and ran to where the noise was coming without taking time to get rid of nothing she was holding.

"Harlan! What happened?" She came in without knocking on the door and almost fell out of shock when her eyes fixed on who was also there. "You look… good". She finished, almost stunned, her eyes were still on Ransom. How long had he been there? And how could she not have realized that he had come before?

When she noticed how his blue eyes sparkled with amusement as if he had taken that last sentence as a direct compliment to him and not a relieving affirmation to his grandfather, Marta's gaze turned to the ground -hiding the embarrassment that began adorning her light cheeks- to find a Go board lying on the carpet. Noticing it, her shoulders relaxed.

"Harlan, have you thrown the board away to avoid losing?" She asked, looking at the man with a defeated expression.

"Of course not! It was Ransom!" He said sulkily, pointing at his grandson.

"That's a lie! It was you!" The accused reproached, glaring at him.

Marta snorted resignedly, put the blanket and the book aside and began to pick up the pieces that had fallen to the ground while the two men began to argue among themselves as if they were children. 

"Oh. What would I do without you, Marta? You're an angel" The man thanked her as she put the board back on the table.

"And you're a such bad loser," she scolded, looking at him annoyed as she left the rest of the pieces on the board.

"I'm not, I'm just sick of Ransom cheating on me," Harlan declared, shaking his head slightly.

Ransom rolled his eyes.

"That's what you want to believe, but we both know that I just play better than you," he defended himself, folding his arms.

Suddenly Harlan smiled and turned back to her.

"Dear, could you do me a favor and teach my grandson a lesson and show him how it must be played?"

She stared at him in surprise at the proposal, and automatically took a step back.

"I ... I don't think I should. I mean, this is your game. I don't want to interrupt it."

"Please, Marta. Or do you not want to make him bite the dust and remove that arrogant smile from his face?"

Marta hesitated, she knew that Ransom was an asshole and she had to admit that it was tempting to win him at the game, even supposing she could do it... Although she also had to admit that her smile was quite pretty.

Ransom cackled.

"Are you asking your nurse for help with the rematch?" He questioned between incredulous. He didn't call her 'the help', he never had. He never had her call him Hugh either.

"She's better than you think," Harlan said impassively.

Ransom shook his head.

"Whatever, but calling someone else to play for you is cheating."

Then, something burned in Marta's chest and she looked at him with bright eyes.

"Are you afraid of losing, Ransom?" She questioned defiantly.

Harlan's smile upon noticing her change of attitude and Ransom blinked slightly at her sudden decision.

"Of you? Hell no," he replied, frowning almost offended.

"Then, let the game begin!" Harlan announced, opening his arms with a smile.

They relocated the board onto the table that was in the center of the place, with each of the two armchairs facing each other. While Harlan, still sitting at his desk, watched them extremely amused while enjoying his coffee.

"If you think you can beat me, you're dreaming," Ransom declared when they had finished collecting all the pieces.

"I'm not playing to beat you, but because I like it. That's the point of games, to have fun," Marta answered, adjusting herself in her seat. "Not everything in life is a competition, you know?"

Ransom rolled his eyes as if his answer seemed too corny.

"Everything in life is a game where you win or lose. That's what the rules are, sweetheart." He looked at her as if what he said was too obvious, at least for him, Marta thought. "Anyway, since I'm a gentleman, I'll let you start first. Which color do you prefer?"

"Black, always the black ones," she spoke, picking up the dark pieces.

"So, the angel is not as pure as it seems," he teased with an arrogant smile.

She ignored it and placed the first piece. He followed her almost immediately, completely determined. During the first part of the game, he stayed that way, analyzing all her movements and looking her in the eye every time he left the board: confident, arrogant and hot.

It wasn't long until his gaze started to drop, he stopped watching her intensely to only see the board between concentrated and confused. As if he couldn't believe what was happening and still he will strive to continue leading the way. Marta, on the other hand, remained in a serene position moving her pieces and watching sideways as his long eyelashes fluttered over his blue eyes, which now shone with the rays of sunlight that came through the window.

Marta ended up beating him up.

Ransom stared blankly at the board for several seconds, trying to figure out how that had happened.

"If you don't close your mouth, flies will come in," she warned him.

"Shut up. Let's do it to the best of three rounds," he muttered, picking up the white pieces.

The result was still the same for the second time.

Ransom leaned back in his seat, hands clasped over his mouth as he re-analyzed his defeat. Then, his deep blue eyes stared at her intently. For a moment, her pulse quickened as he stared at her in complete silence.

"How the hell do you do it?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"I told you, I don't play to win. I prefer to focus on making a nice pattern."

"That's bullshit. Let's play again."

Marta also won the third game.

"Shit," Ransom muttered, kicking the chair, it was fortunate that the pieces would just wobble and never fall to the ground again.

Marta rolled her eyes, turning aggressive when they lost might come from family after all.

"I don't understand why you get so mad, it's just a game, not war." "There's no way you can win that easily, you're cheating," Ransom declared, visibly upset by a triple defeat that had damaged his pride. "This is one of your tricks, right? You had it all planned to give me some of my own medicine or something like that" he accused his grandfather directly.

Harlan laughed at that speculation.

"I'm sorry, kid. But I have nothing to do with this, that Marta was here to ask her to beat you has been completely fortuitous. So just admit your own mistakes, Ransom."

His grandson bit his tongue, still sulking, he gave the game one last look before addressing Marta.

"I'm going to beat you next time."

Marta cocked her head back at him.

"You can try it if you want."

Harlan laughed again.

"Oh, I adore this girl so much."

And as if that had been like a return to reality for Marta, she automatically blushed and her shoulders relaxed as the game's defiant attitude faded. God, how could she be so childish and proud about a stupid game? It seemed that the environment of that family and in particular the patriarch was beginning to affect her.

Silently, she began to collect the entire game while Ransom sat down again near his grandfather to start arguing about the book that he was beginning to plan.

"Well, I don't want to bother, so I had better get back to where I was before..." Marta declared, gathering her things after leaving the Go game in its place.

Ransom, who had not looked back at her after his last words, locked his blue eyes on hers again, interrupting the conversation with his grandfather.  
"That is ridiculous, you are not a bother. You can stay," he stated, his blue eyes sparkling, but she wasn't sure why.

Now it was Marta's turn to gape at him.

"Of course," Harlan agreed. "It is always a pleasure to have your company, my dear. You don't have to go anywhere."

Marta bit her lip nervously, but she couldn't say no to Harlan. Much less to the blue-eyed gaze of Ransom that was still fixed on her.

So finally, she nodded and settled back into the only chair that was empty with the same blanket and book that she had been using minutes before. Meanwhile, the writer and his grandson were once again engaged in a discussion about which character would have to die at the end of his book.

**• • •**

_January 21th, 11 months before Harlan’s death._

For some strange reason, Ransom's presence at the Thrombey mansion began to become more habitual and long. It is not as if it was rare to see Ransom visiting his grandfather, he used to do it at least once a week, as far as Marta knew because they rarely coincided with her work hours. Now, instead, every time she got to work he was there. Whether it was assembling with everything in the fridge or just lying on the couch watching TV or playing on his phone. But he will always be watching when she goes upstairs to Harlan's study, she will be able to feel his eyes on her, even though she will never look at him back.

"Don't you have a home of your own?" She questioned once when she found him in the kitchen devouring the apple pie that Fran had made that morning before she left.

"Why, Cabrera? Are you inviting yourself into my house?" He countered, flapping his lashes innocently.

She avoided rolling her eyes and simply refilled the cup of coffee Harlan had asked for.

"I'm just saying you spend a lot of time here, don't you have a job or something?" Marta asked as she poured her hot cup of tea, she didn't like coffee. It was too bitter for her.

"No, I don't have it," he shook her head. "Besides, it's more fun to be here," he added with a smile wiping his eye.

Ignoring him, she grabbed the two cups and determined to go back to Harlan's study, praying inside that her clumsiness would not make an appearance on the road and something would fall to the ground.

Arriving at the doorframe, she gave one last look at the half-eaten pie and Ransom.

"If you continue like this, you're going to end up getting fat and ..." She paused to examine him from top to bottom before continuing. "Well, it would be a pity," and she left. But she couldn't help but smile when she heard him cough from the hallway.

Every time Marta finished her shift and went back down the stairs, she couldn't help but look over to where Ransom was when she had arrived. He was always there, and their gazes instantly connected. He would smile at her, and she would shake her head trying to hide the small smile that threatened to show her lips. They both knew what was going to happen.

Ransom requested a rematch practically from the day after her first loss, a best-of-three again and then she would return home until the next day. Marta wanted to refuse, but as bad as it sounded she liked to beat him. So she accepted. What she didn't know is that it was going to start to become a routine. At first, she thought it was just an infatuation. That is less than a month he would get bored of it, would forget about it and leave her alone. But that wasn't happening. She always beat him, and he didn't seem tired of losing over and over again. Every time the last game of that day ended, he automatically leaned back in his seat, watching the board with one hand over his mouth, as if trying to hide a grin... Almost as if he were enjoying it in silence.

They never spoke while playing, as if it was a self-established rule. However, that day Ransom decided to break it midway through the first round.

"You look very pretty today," he snapped as he placed one of his white pieces.

"I don't know what you're trying to do, but it won't work," she said bluntly without looking at him.

"I just want to say that blue looks good on you, it highlights your green eyes. A pair of good diamonds and sapphires would surely help even more."

"If you think you can win me like the rest of the girls with cheap jewelry, you are very wrong."

"I'm not talking about cheap jewelry, angel," he shook his head. "But more like a couple of Tiffany and Co. bags for your birthday."

"If this is your best attempt to distract me, it's not working at all," she spoke, moving a last black piece that gave her the first victory of the day. "Also, you don't even know when my birthday is."

He chuckled but didn't answer back.

She didn't understand why, but Marta was a completely different person around Ransom. With the rest of the family, she preferred to stay on the sidelines than saying something that she knew would disturb them. Avoiding conflict was practically her mantra. But with Ransom it wasn't like that, there was a certain kind of familiarity that invited her to simply say what she thought without any kind of filter, to be herself out of any mask. It was not the same type of trust that she had with Harlan, their relationship was complicit and loving, she would always be honest with him, but she would not stop being caring (after all, she loved and admired that man too much). She definitely couldn't be genuinely nice towards Ransom.

There was something about the way he looked at her, that made her someone else completely different from what she believed herself to be, but at the same time, she still felt like she _was_ herself. As if he could spark a fire in her eyes, a facet of herself she didn't know. Somehow, whenever they were together, she became prouder, didn't think twice about what she said, and she didn't care about being able to upset him. She just was... completely honest.

It was almost strange to her -as if she were in someone else's body- not to speak a single kind word, not to act respectfully with who in the end was the grandson of her boss, not to be shy, not to avoid any kind of confrontation but almost to provoke it. But she didn't fully dislike it either.

Her relationship with Ransom was like that; they competed, flirted, argued, gazed at each other... all in a pure provocation game. And Marta had no idea where it was going to.

"You're a witch," Ransom declared when she won the third time. "There is no way you can beat me so many times, you put a spell on me or something like that."

Marta had to make a great effort not to burst out laughing.

"I haven't done any of that," she shook his head. "I just focus on the game. That's your problem, Ransom, you focus too much on winning. You overthink everything way too much. If you just let yourself go, it would be better for you the next time."

Ransom raised an eyebrow.

"And I would win, right?"

She shrugged as she got up from her seat.

"Who knows?" She cocked her head, giving him one last look before turning and leaving.

From that day, Ransom stopped appearing around the mansion. Or at least, not while she was there. Marta deduced that her theory had become true, and he had finally had enough of all of it. And even if she wasn't going to admit it out loud, the mere thought made her heart stopped for a beat. Somehow, she had grown accustomed to the peculiar dynamic and routine they had established between the two of them.

"He got into a fight with Harlan a few weeks ago," Fran replied, when she asked her as subtly as possible about the subject, dispelling any of her theories. "You know, they always do. They are like two small children... But this one seemed serious enough, I heard some screaming, but it was too far to hear anything well. Although Hugh's door slammed definitively as he left, he has not been back since."

Marta bit her lip lightly. 

"Hmm ... And when exactly did that happen?" She asked trying not to sound too nosy.

They were both in the kitchen, Fran was on the stove preparing dinner while Marta enjoyed a hot chocolate -they were already in february by that time, so she had to took those opportunities as much as she could- sitting on the table, her feet dancing in the air. Her shift was over and Harlan was locked in his office writing, but Marta couldn't say no when Fran offered her a cup of her favorite drink, taking advantage of that invitation to stay a little bit longer and try to find out what had been going on in her head for several weeks.

"Earlier this month. On the 8th of this month, if I remember correctly? It was just after you left that Hugh went up to see Harlan and within minutes they started arguing. I didn't worry too much because it's not out of the ordinary until I heard the screaming, of course." She shrugged and then pointed at Marta with the wooden spoon she was using. "Anyway, if I'm honest, I saw it coming. Lately, he was spending too much time around here, I don't know why, and even Harlan couldn't take it that long. Believe me, there is nothing good in that boy."

Marta hid a slight grimace from her cup. Fran didn't know about her games with Ransom. They were always alone in those little moments. And for some reason, she didn't want to tell her about it either.

"Yes, I guess you're right..."

Suddenly, something inside Marta stirred. Supposedly it had already passed over a month since the fight, and that was certainly concerning. She felt a tug prompting her to run away, she wasn't sure where though. Her mouth felt bitter when she heard the cruel words with which Fran referred to Ransom, remembering all those times she had heard the rest of his family doing it. She thought of his blue eyes, his empty gaze, the condescending attitude he took when he was with them at some family gathering, the challenging smile that directed to Harlan, the way he looked at her, _only her_ when there was nobody else in the room.

She didn't understand what had been going on around Ransom for the past few weeks, him being closer to both Harlan and her, his change of attitude.

And she needed to know why.


End file.
